Circuit Breaker Sizing and Breaker Derating http://bdbreakers.com/breakersizing.

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Breaker Home Location: Sizing a Breaker

What is a Breaker
Circuit Breaker Sizing and Breaker Derating
How a Breaker Works
Remember, be safe. Breakers do not
Breakers Vs Fuses work under all circumstances because
electricity does funny things under
Breaker Failures very high current conditions, very high
altitudes, underwater, in exceptionally
Sizing a Breaker
dry conditions, etc.. Therefore there
Derate Breakers for Altitude are limits to where a breaker can
operate properly. Assuming your
Derating Breakers for application for a breaker is satisfactory,
Temperature let's move into selecting the right
breaker for your needs.
Where a Breaker Goes
Install an AC Breaker AC / DC - Choose a Current Type
Contact Us for the Breaker
Site Map Not all breakers are made equally.
Some are designed for AC, phased,
Battery Partners electrical current. Other breakers are
designed for a continual direct or DC
current. Make sure you choose the
right type of breaker for your circuit.
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Voltage - Choose a breaker in
the Voltage Class
The next significant thing you need to know when selecting a breaker
is the voltage. Do not try to place a 120 VAC breaker in 240 VAC
service unless it is marked saying it can. Let's just say bad things
WILL happen, and fire is the least of your problems...

Amperage - Choose a breaker in the Amperage Rating Of

your Circuit
The next significant thing you need to know when selecting a breaker
is the amperage. The whole point of a circuit breaker is to limit the
maximum amperage. However, here is where the elegance of the
installer really shines. There are a number of things environmentally
that can negative or positively effect the breaker in operation. For
these reasons we derate breakers, depending on their installation.

Derating for Amperage - The Real Nuts and Bolts of

Breaker Selection
There are maximum current ratings for wires, motors, etc. The
breaker is designed to be well under these maximums to protect the
system. However, if we run a circuit at the maximum level of the

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Circuit Breaker Sizing and Breaker Derating http://bdbreakers.com/breakersizing.php

breaker for a long enough period, the breaker will trip anyway.

WHY?
Sustained use at 19 amps on a 20 amp circuit will often trip because
the heat builds up in the bi-metallic stip over time.
To compensate for this, we need to derate the breaker to handle the
load, but stay well within the maximums for the wire, equipment, etc.
Usually AC home and office 120 VAC circuits are derated by 20%. The
same 20% seems to work well for DC applications as well, but is less
well tested. If the ambient temperature, or altitude changes
significantly, please derate additionally for these factors. Click
foraltitude breaker derating and temperature breaker derating tables
respectively.

So to show how this works, we have two examples below.

Assuming the Photovoltaic array is inside the greenhouse (to keep

ambient temperatures and avoid that derating) we need High Voltage
DC Breakers. We need to be careful to have high enough DC voltage
breakers to satisfy the high voltage here. Many Solar Panels have a
max voltage over 500 volts, but short circuit at 16 amps. Breakers for
these solar installations should then be 15AMP breakers of adequate
voltage rating. The 15 amp breaker derates to 12 amps, which is well
under the 16 amp short circuit for the string of solar panels.

Let us assume your kitchen runs a microwave at 800 watts, and a 500
watt fridge. When the family comes over for the holidays, they all plug
in their appliances in the kitchen. Two crock pots (300 watts each), an
electric skittle at 180 watts, and a 200 watt carving knife. They want
to know why the 20 amp circuit in the kitchen blows ALL THE TIME!

First a 20 amp fuse runs at 16 amps continuously after derating. Now

we need to convert amps and volts to watts to compare apples to
apples per se.
16 amps x 120 volts = 1920 watts
800 watt microwave + 500 watt fridge = 1300 watts normally
When the family arrives....
800 watt microwave + 500 watt fridge + 600 watts crock pots + 180
watt electric knife + 200 watt knife = 2280 watts
2280 watts > 1920 watts by 360 watts ... they need to run those
crock pots off another circuit in the house.
Try the living room ;)

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